SHARDS OF REALITY: A LitRPG novel (Enter the Realm Book 1)

by Timothy W. Long

  “Yeah,” Oz shook his head. “Worst idea ever, more like. If we do run into this Falstace guy, he’ll probably roast us alive with a fireball spell. Or worse.”

  “What could be worse than being roasted alive by fire?” I said.

  “Fuck if I know, but knowing this lame world, we’re going to find out,” Oz muttered. “Let’s just get this over with, so we can collect a bunch of money. I have a few ideas that involve going to the capital and getting myself setup nice and comfortable until we figure out how to get out of here.”

  “So you’re in?” I said.

  “What else am I going to do? Spend the next week killing giant wasps, and running from pissed off bears? I want out of this world so bad, man. I want to go back to my old life. I’ve had it with this bullshit.”

  “So let’s get to it after we stop and pick up a few supplies,” I said.

  “Like what?” Oz asked.

  “Potions, food, something to drink. I’d take a skin full of that incredible tea for starters. That’s some good stuff,” I said.

  “Told you it was incredible,” Karian nodded.

  “Let’s do all that stuff. Then go do the other stuff. Then come back with the stuff, and call it a day,” Oz said.

  “I guess we’re not going to be LFG now,” I said.

  “Do us a favor, Walt. Don’t try to tell any more MMO jokes, okay?” Karian dead-panned.

  Oz shook his head and turned away.

  “What? I’m just trying to keep you guys smiling.” I argued as I followed my friends to the edge of the city.

  20

  PISSED OFF AND PISSED ON

  There is something noble about pursuing an epic quest. A gravitas that is sorely lacking in other games. Fighting the odds, making new friends, killing old foes, and coming back with a mountain of treasure. Not to mention the XP rewards, and the new skill points or even skill trees to pursue.

  But large scale in-game quests took a lot of time and effort. They required planning, and if you were smart, reading up on what steps needed to be accomplished before it was undertaken. My guild had gone after more than one elder boss on our Th’loria server, and each had been brand new quests with little information provided.

  Setting out on our journey felt a lot like that. We were about to step into the unknown because to the best of my knowledge, not to mention my memory, the quest that Ansalon had assigned us was new, and not from the old game.

  We found a general goods vendor next to the gate, but his supplies weren’t exactly encouraging. In fact, the shopkeeper was so happy to have customers, he practically fell over himself trying to push goods our way. The old man and his wife looked vaguely familiar. I was sure I had stopped at the store back in the old game and more than a few times. There was always a sense of deja vu no matter where I went in this city. I could have spent a year of my life in the virtual version, and committed to memory every nook and cranny, but the real life version would never match up.

  “Good sir. You can’t go out adventuring without a selection of fruits. We have apples, oranges, and most of those are ripe. A variety of berries at a steep discount. Some may have a bit of mold, but that's to be expected during these trying days. Perhaps a casket of Glindgin Ale to make the road lighter?” The old man, who introduced himself as Brenton Woods, babbled on.

  “Just the basics I guess,” I said because Karian had taken the lead as soon as we walked through the door.

  “How long is this quest anyway?” Oz said while Karian shopped.

  “Have to check the map when we leave. Probably no more than a day or two I would think.”

  “Doubtful it’s that far,” Karian said.

  Karian moved among the shopkeeper’s stores and selected some packages and skins. She slung some over her shoulder and the others she carried to the shopkeeper’s wife. Karian leaned over and spoke to the woman. She nodded and went into the back room.

  “Have you any healing potions?” I asked Brenton.

  “Only two, my lord. Minor healing. I haven’t seen a major health potion in months. But I’ll let these two go,” he reached under the counter and set two vials out.

  “Mana regen?”

  “One. It’s here somewhere,” Brenton shuffled items around. “Here it is.”

  I frowned: one? I had picked up a pair of strong mana potions from the mages, but that wouldn’t nearly be enough.

  The shopkeeper placed our supplies in a sack. “That’ll be all for you, sir?”

  “What do you think, Oz. Can you think of anything else?”

  “Got any ale or wine? I’ll take a skin full of either,” Oz said.

  “Of course, sir. Not the best, not the worst, it’ll do the trick,” he said and went into the back room.

  “We’re off to help save the land, and you want booze?” I scoffed.

  “We’re off to save the land. I need booze. I think that’s what you meant,” Oz said with a wink.

  “Right, here ya go, sir,” the shopkeeper returned with a sack resembling a bota bag and placed it on the counter. The contents sloshed around and then went still.

  Oz grabbed the wineskin and slung it over his shoulder.

  “All told that will be fifteen silver and ten coppers.” The shopkeeper said.

  I blanched at his words. I didn’t even have three coppers.

  Leaning to the side, I whispered to Oz, “How much coin do you have left?”

  “Not that much. A fraction of that. Let me check,” Oz dug around in his sack.

  “Excuse me but are you out of your mind. This pile of rubbish is worth three silver at the most,” Karian interjected. “And we don’t need the wineskin.”

  “I need the wineskin,” Oz said.

  “How much money do you have?” Karian shot Oz a dead look.

  Oz sighed like a recalcitrant child and put the sloshing skin back on the counter.

  “I might as well close the shop and hand all of this to the poor. It leaves no profit for me, and I can’t keep my livelihood up on such an offer,” Brenton looked upward and stroked his chin with his right hand. “I could, however, let it go for twelve silver.”

  “An outrageous sum,” Karian stood her ground. “I’ll go five and not a silver or copper more, and even that is a criminal amount to pay.”

  “You drive a hard bargain, mistress. I’ll grant you that,” he said and looked up again. “I suppose I can lower my price to eight, but that’s just going to leave us penniless for the next week.”

  I stared hopelessly at Karian. Did she have enough coin to back up her bargaining?

  “Breaks my heart, honestly, I’ll go six, and if you don’t bring down the price anymore, we will simply walk out of here and visit the other store. I believe the owner’s name is Warris and he likes me. Says I have a particular tilt to my hips or some such,” Karian said and placed the packets back on the counter.

  “I can’t say that I’m happy about it, but I will go six silver and ten coppers,” the old man said.

  “Fine. You have a deal,” Karina said.

  She reached into her bag and brought out a gold coin.

  “Here you go, sir. It was fine bargaining with you.” She grinned.

  The man snatched the coin out of the air and whistled appreciatively. “I’m sorry, mistress. I have no way to make change for this. I do apologize.”

  “Keep it,” she said.

  It wasn’t until the door closed behind us that I shut my mouth.

  “What was that all about?” Oz said.

  “Ding!” She giggled. “Speechcraft is an essential skill.”

  KARIAN, Oz, and I split our supplies and tucked food, vials, and skins into our packs.

  “How did you make so much money? Did you do some quest turn-ins?” I asked Karian.

  “I did a bunch the day before I met you. I also raided one of the coffers in the bandit’s cave. Money is easy to come by here if you stay sharp,” she replied.

  “Is it? Because we haven’t had that much luck,” Oz s
aid. “I still think we should go back and see if that bear left the cave. Hell, we’ve all leveled up, maybe we can get take him.”

  “How about on our way back?” I suggested. “We’ll all be able to overpower poppa bear by then.”

  “We could do that, but we’ll probably come back from these catacombs with enough to set ourselves up for a while. I’ve been thinking about investing in some property. Maybe a nice mansion that overlooks a lake. I’ll have some houseboys run errands for me while I sit around sipping wine and eating olives,” Karian said with a sparkle in her eyes.

  “Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe that was her goal in Th’loria.

  “Of course not. I’m ready to get out of here, or figure out how to, as you put it, Walt, jump to an upgraded server,” she said. “But I also need to be realistic. What if we’re stuck here forever and can never go back to our world? I doubt I’d be happy living here with no resources.”

  “Wouldn’t take a lot to be comfortable here. Lots of quests and stuff,” I suggested.

  “Yeah. Easy to make a pile of coin if we play it right,” Oz said.

  “But your existence would probably involve making enough to stay up to your neck in ale or wine. I want a little more out of life,” Karian replied.

  “Me, too,” I said but didn’t mention that I’d like to have a beautiful house as well—with Karian.

  “Let’s get this quest done and figure out our next move. Where are we headed?” Karian turned to me.

  “Oh, yeah,” I slid the satchel off my back and rummaged around until I found Ansalon’s map.

  I folded out the page as we tromped off toward the city gate. The drawing had excellent details with hills, valleys, streams, and lakes marked, and most of them sounded familiar. The southwest corner contained the town of Weslori and just below it, Candleburn. The swamp lay across the dead fields we had passed the day before, and in the center was the fallen shrine to Leefser.

  “So I guess we’re heading south out of the gate, then we veer down this road,” I followed the path. “And find a way across this field.”

  The guards who had assisted Karian the day before sat next to a small fire and tossed dice in a circular pit dug into the dirt.

  “How’s it going, fellas?” I nodded at the men.

  “Sod off,” Fode said with barely a glance.

  “That’s not very nice,” Karian put her hands on her hips.

  “Ah,” Fode leaped to his feet and brushed the dirt off his clothes. “Nice of you to visit us again, mistress. Did you, uh, happen to mention our deeds to the guard captain?”

  “I did as promised. I’m sure he will reward you both today,” Karian shot them a soft smile.

  “Our thanks, my lady,” Fode said and then dipped his body in the worst example of a bow I’d ever seen in my life.

  A figure sat with his feet hanging over a small drop and worked at a stone with a long blade. He wore an impressive copper helmet with a rounded top, and there were a number of gems set in a circular pattern around the outer edge. His armor was thick leather with scales worked into the back and arms.

  “Anyway, thanks for the assist yesterday, gents,” I said to the guards.

  One of them turned to regard us, looked me up and down, sneered, and then went back to drooling over Karian.

  “Okay, then,” I muttered.

  “Short memories?” Oz suggested.

  “They have one track minds is all.” The warrior swung his feet around the ledge and then stood up to his full height of four feet six or so.

  “Oh hey, man,” Oz said.

  “Greetings again, travelers. Thandroot Spellshatter at your service. Word has it you are setting off on a grand adventure, and I’m here to offer my services,” the dwarf said.

  “And how much is that going to cost us?” I said.

  “Looks to be four of us so a quarter of the profits should suffice,” Thandroot said and offered a little bow.

  “Thing is, Thandroot. We’re kind of a tight group, you know, and you’re a stranger, so I think it’s only fair that we question your motivation,” I said.

  “No sweat off my ballsack. If you have a priest capable of controlling the undead then you certainly do not need my services,” Thandroot plopped back down on the rock.

  “You’re a priest?” Oz said.

  “Aye, though I swing a maul with the best of them. Smashed many a skeleton in my day,” he said.

  “I didn’t mean it like that. I’ve never heard a priest say ‘ballsack’ is all,” Oz chuckled.

  “Oh haven’t ya then?” Thandroot grinned. “I suppose I’m one of a kind then.”

  I studied him for a few seconds, and an aura snapped into place and then was gone. He was intense yellow to me, an above average threat were he and I to engage in combat. The fact that his surname was Spellshatter meant he would probably wipe the floor with my corpse.

  “Be right with you, Thandroot,” Karian said and gestured for us to step a few paces away.

  “What are you thinking?” I asked Karian

  “Might not be a bad idea to bring him,” Karian said. “He’s obviously an experienced and well-designed NPC. If he can help with undead, it would be smart.”

  “What, you didn’t design him, too? Maybe you’re intimately knowledgeable of his capabilities?” Oz frowned.

  “I don’t know every freaking NPC here. I don’t even know how Grayson got here. He was a new design for a later version of the game. But the guys downstairs do have leeway to borrow any assets from our software vault,” she said. “Just drop it, Oz. You should know by now that we’re all on the same side.”

  I shot Oz a warning look, but he ignored me.

  “I don’t know. Look at what happened to Grayson. He got his face eaten by a bear,” I said.

  “Right, and it allowed us to escape. So would it be such a bad idea to have a piece of cannon fodder with us?” Karian offered.

  “I guess that’s a good point. So let’s bring him. Why not? Maybe he can tell us about his adventures and bore us to sleep at night,” Oz said.

  “Yo, Than. Can I call you Than?” I called to the dwarf. “You’re in. Pack it up and let’s boogie.”

  “Don’t call me a conjunction. Thandroot will do nicely,” the dwarf said and got back to his feet.

  He picked up a sack half-buried in a bush that looked like it was hanging onto life by a thread and tossed it over his shoulder. His maul’s haft rose high above his left shoulder, and he slid his blade back into a worn leather sheath.

  “Cool,” I said. “Now let’s all get on the same page, shall we? We’re going to a fallen temple that lies in a swamp. Inside there is a passageway to a series of catacombs beneath. Our quest is to fight through the fallen cultists, undead, and whatever other creatures lie in wait, and retrieve a sliver of a shard that is corrupting the land,” I stated.

  “Not bad for a dungeon master,” Oz chuckled.

  “Let’s hit it,” Karian said and took the lead.

  “Aye. Tis an excellent day for adventure, and glory,” Thandroot said and set off after Karian.

  “Hiyo Silver, and shit,” Oz said.

  I had nothing to add. My group of degenerates had covered it well enough.

  WE FOLLOWED the road out of Weslori and made for the southern fields. Although we had passed this way before, we had not investigated the open lands beyond, and I looked forward to what they had in store for us. With level 6 in sight, I only needed to rack up a few kills to advance.

  Thandroot didn’t talk much, but he did hum tunes, dwarven I assumed although one of them reminded me of an old pop song. When he noticed me watching him oddly, he literally changed his tune and went back to something that sounded suitably medieval.

  I kept the map out as we proceeded toward our destination, eyes scanning ahead for landmarks. They weren’t hard to find. Whoever had drawn this map back at the Crimson Mage’s was quite talented. I used to try and draw fantasy maps when I was a kid, but they always look
ed like an ADHD off his meds attempting to sketch a clown’s face.

  There was a clump of trees just off the side of the road. Were we to proceed another quarter mile we would have passed the spot where we had met Burp and his band of goblins. I hope they had enjoyed selling the gem I had traded to avoid a fight and were drinking whatever disgusting stuff goblins used to get goblin-plastered.

  I pointed and the others veered toward the copse of tall trees. We swung around the mass to find a path before us. Beaten into the field, it zigzagged over decaying crops and then met up with a hedgerow in the distance.

  Thandroot fell back to walk beside me. For a guy with short legs, he had an impressive gait.

  “Good day for a quest,” he observed.

  “Yeah. Weather is nice,” I replied.

  “Land’s barren. Tis a shame,” Thandroot said.

  We walked in silence for a few minutes picking our way over rocks and rows that had grown crops at one time. Something green poked out, and I stopped to study it. The plant looked like a baby fern, and the breeze ruffled the fronds.

  “Guess it’s not all dead here,” I said and reached out to touch it.

  Thandroot slapped my hand away. “Don’t. It’s poisonous.”

  “Oh snap,” I said. “Wait, I know this one. It’s usually a lot bigger, but it’s called Low Shadowbane.”

  “That it is. Give it a few more months, and they will dot the landscape. The only safe way to kill them is to use a flame. Stop them while you can, but look around,” Thandroot gestured.

  I squinted my eyes and studied the ground. Sure enough, they were beginning to sprout everywhere.

  “Don’t step on the green fern-looking things,” I called out helpfully.

  “I know,” Karian said, and Oz turned and nodded at me.

  “So Thandroot. Where do you hail from?”

  “Far to the north, then west. Up in the mountains,” Thandroot said.

  “Oh,” I said. “That would be near Wimer’s Reach?”

  “You’ve heard of it. Lovey mountain range with many adventures lying beyond,” Thandroot said and then got a faraway look in his eye.